The cars very much remain the stars at Blenheim Palace and, in what is fast becoming a tradition, Lockton once again assembled various examples of motoring royalty. This year, McLaren celebrates its 60th anniversary so we brought a McLaren Senna GTR in a unique Harrods livery, an F1 GTR resplendent in Papaya Orange and a 2004 MP4-19A driven by Kimi Raikkonen and still fully operational.
These three motoring icons were joined by our 2022 Club Trophy winning Ferrari 308 GTS, restored to absolute perfection by its owner, Ian Barkaway. More on Ian later…
Day One at Salon Privé is known for manufacturer launches and 2023 was no exception. Aston Martin showed us the DB12 Volante, the Shelby Cobra CSX1000 was revealed and Lotus gave guests the first opportunity to road test its Eletre SUV.
The creation of a centrepiece automotive display has also become a Salon Privé tradition and, for 2023, we were given The Yellow Collection. Featuring yellow cars from the last six decades, the ensemble was headlined by a 1965 Ferrari 250 LM that led that year's Le Mans for 23 hours before a puncture denied it outright victory.
On Day Two we were joined by our car club partners with plenty of networking and discussion evident throughout the day – the shared passion for all things automotive crossing marque loyalty.
Day Two is now also the day when the 'Best of Show' winner is announced and our congratulations go to Lord Bamford on taking top honours with his stunning 1937 Bugatti Type 57S with bodywork by Corsica Coachworks.
Salon Privé leaves the lawns on Thursday evening and 'Privé Live' sees the streets of Woodstock reverberate to the sound of many of the cars that have sat dormant for several days stretching their legs, much to the delight of visitors.
The sun finally shone on Day Three as we welcomed close to 100 guests to join us for the day in the Aviva Pavilion along with members of the Aviva team. The summer weather also allowed everyone to explore the many luxury brands on display – from bikes to boats, hats to helicopters, fine art to fashion icons – there really is an amazing array of style and glamour on view at Salon Privé.
Salon Privé was also the perfect platform to launch our inaugural Luxury Assets Report. Featuring insights from some of our highly experienced team, we cover topics from cars to watches and also look at crypto. With additional content from trusted partners, it reinforces our credentials as the broker of choice for protecting what matters.
This year, Salon Privé was held over just four days and therefore Supercar Saturday saw the climax of the show with Lockton presenting the much sought after Club Trophy award. The lawns of Blenheim Palace were a sea of sports, super and hypercars, and joining them for the first time SCC and Drivers Union, two of our multi marque clubs, were also invited to choose their favourite cars.
Judging the Club Trophy is always a highlight of our Salon Privé and we were joined by Ian Barkaway to view the cars and speak to their owners, before deciding on Philip Kenworthy's beautiful 1964 Jaguar E Type S1 3.8 OTS as the recipient of the 2023 Club Trophy award – the story is as much a part of the judging process as the car itself and Philip's obvious passion for his Jaguar, coupled with superb presentation, secured the winning spot.
As the day (and event) drew to a close, the cars were loaded up and heading back to their owners and a very tired Lockton team nursed sore feet and throats before starting to think about SP24.
We're delighted to confirm that as Salon Privé closed its doors for 2023, we have agreed to extend our sponsorship for a further three years. Planning for next year is already underway.
We close by thanking His Grace The Duke of Marlborough for allowing us all to visit his home and grounds, the Bagleys without whom Salon Privé wouldn't happen, the Lockton team for their hard work up to and during the event, and Ian Barkaway and his staff for once again making sure that our display cars arrived and departed safely.
We'll see you all again next August!